AmazinglyBlessed

Canning No-No part 2

08:40 PM, Monday, March 12, 2007 .. Posted in Stocking the Pantry .. 2 comments .. Link

This is painful to admit, but I did it again. We were canning some meat and bean / meat in quart jars. And if I didn't forget to add water in the canner again?!! When I realized my mistake the canner was already very hot and when I added water, it made such a sizzling noise. When the canning was done, I found one of the jars cracked.

That should be the last time it happens. Or do they say it comes in three?

Forgetful in Tennessee,
Christina

Canning No-No

08:15 AM, Tuesday, March 6, 2007 .. Posted in Stocking the Pantry .. 5 comments .. Link

My husband and the older children harvested most of the carrots in the garden, in preparation to disc the dirt under. We were surprised to find that we still had a few 5 gallon bucket worth of carrots to harvest. Yesterday the girls washed and cut some carrots and with my help we were going to can 7 quarts, for a start.

I had been waiting quite a while for the steam to start coming out of the vent, but there was nothing, not even the boiling sound of water. No, I didn't forget to turn on the heat

, but I finally figured out that I hadn't added any water to the canner! Silly, absent-minded me.

I tried to add the hottest water from the tap, hoping that nothing would crack or explode, but even so, the noise coming from the water touching the hot canner was awful. My little boy got really excited and concerned, and the rest of the family in the living room were asking questions, but I just reassured them that it was nothing. I wasn't about to admit that I had done such a silly thing! And now that it's on the blog, my dh will read it and find out the truth.

The carrots turned out nicely and for the rest of the carrot canning, you can be sure that I'll double check that water was added to the canner.

Christina

What I do with all those turnips!

08:17 PM, Wednesday, January 3, 2007 .. Posted in Stocking the Pantry .. 6 comments .. Link

There is interest in learning to process turnips, so here's what I will do with my bounty.

To can turnips:

Wash and prepare for cooking. Cut into desired size pieces.
Cover vegetables in cold water. Bring to a boil and boil for three minutes.
Pack hot vegetables into hot jars, leaving one-inch headspace.
Ladle boiling water over the vegetables. Be sure to leave a one-inch headspace.
Remove all air bubbles from the jar. A table knife or thin spatula pushed down along the sides of the jar can help with this process.
Adjust two-piece lids.
Process in pressure canner at 10 pounds of pressure (30 minutes for a pint and 35 minutes for a quart).

Turnips can also be cultured like sauerkraut. I'll make my kraut with shredded turnips and some onions.

To make sauerruben in a crock, use the same procedures as in making sauerkraut. Choose turnips that are young, tender, sweet and juicy. They should be freshly harvested. Wash well and remove all the green tops. Do not peel. Shred finely or grind.
For five pounds of shredded turnips, use three tablespoons of pickling salt. Layer the turnips and salt in a foodgrade container, such as a stone crock or plastic bucket. Cover with a lid or plate and top with a weight. This should cover the turnips completely to exclude air and help form brine during fermentation. Ferment at room temperature for about 6 to 8 weeks.
To can sauerruben, use the same procedures to can sauerkraut.

Tantalizing Turnips, a great turnip pdf file!
http://www.uaf.edu/coop-ext/publications/freepubs/FNH-00463.pdf

There Deanna, this should help you considering you've never eaten a turnip in your life! Well here's one just for you.

Roast and turnips:

Place a nice roast of deer, lamb, goat or beef in a large oven pan. Rub a little olive oil and season well with garlic, salt, pepper and Rosemary. Cut in quarters medium potatoes, turnips, onions and cut carrots in big chunks. Place the veggies all around the roast. Season the veggies to taste and cover the lot with aluminum sheet. Cook at 375 until done, according to taste. That's our favorite way to eat root veggies. That goes for sweet potatoes too: cut lengthwise, place cut side down, add a few pats of butter, cover with aluminum sheet and bake. They are sosweet and tender. Yum!

Canning results two days after butchering a goat

12:00 PM, Wednesday, January 3, 2007 .. Posted in Stocking the Pantry .. 6 comments .. Link

Well, the results are in. My little girls and I canned 13 quarts of cubed meat, 7 quarts of pinto beans / veggies / cubed meat soup, (7) 44 ounces jars (recycled honey jars) of the same soup, and I still have a small amount of ground meat and many soup bones. It's not that much, compared to a beef, but it was done quickly and neatly.

Two more to butcher but that will wait until February because 6 Nubian does are about to kid.

Oh yes, speaking of canning, we were given so many huge sweet turnips and ours in the garden are ready to harvest, so I think that we will can a huge bunch. I don't know how canned turnips will taste but I can't see letting them go to waste.

Christina

Butchering day!

08:35 AM, Monday, January 1, 2007 .. Posted in Stocking the Pantry .. 5 comments .. Link

This morning my husband decided that today would be a perfect day to butcher a goat. It's cloudy, cool at 44 and since it rained alot the day before he can't use the sawmill. Our oldest daughter washed 26 quart jars and lids, which will do to begin. I have in mind 21 quarts of meat and oodles of meat and bean soups.

My recipe for the soup:

Place in clean jars:
- 3/4 cup of dry beans
- about 1/4 cup of cubed meat
- about 1/4 cup of chopped onions, carrots, celery
-salt and pepper to taste, thyme is also good

Fill to 1 inch of the top with boiled water, cap and pressure can at 10 pounds for 1 hour.

Some women in the community can meat at 15 pounds for 30 min. but I don't feel comfortable cutting corners that much. Still, they've been doing it for years so it may be enough.

Christina

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